africa
All the best wildlife, bazaars, and adventures Africa has to offer from Cairo to Cape Town.
William and me Part 4
William and me – Part 4 There are many other traditions in Malawi that I have heard and read about and find horrific. One is the tradition in many villages in Malawi of child marriages. Five out of 10 girls in Malawi get married before they turn 18. They are subjected to sexual initiation paid for by the community with a sex hyena. This is a man who traverses across villages and is paid to have sex with girls as young as 9 years of age. The older man is meant to cleanse them of childhood dust to prepare them to be adults. “Kusasa fumbi” is common in southern Malawi. The practice leaves behind unwanted pregnancies and HIV infection. This contributes to setting the economy behind as children lose parents to AIDS to remain under the care of elderly grandparents unable to work in the fields. No wonder the scourge is on a never-ending upward climb in these places.
By John Vallis5 years ago in Wander
Tales from Ghana 2
Tales from Ghana No 2 – The surf beaches and Juju. Busua - Western Region. Busua is the best surf beach in Ghana. Watching the locals surf is a delight. They are good and the waves are just right for the intermediate surfers. The town is also a working fishing village with colourful boats and daily catches of different fish and lobsters. Here it is possible to buy a big lobster for 3 or 4 USD straight from the boatman. It is 5 hours from Accra by car. Longer by bus and taxi. If you can afford it, you can opt for the 30-minute Passion Air flight from Accra domestic airport. I will do that next time. The Executive STC coach was cheap and comfortable, with A/C and a Nigerian movie playing at the front about a group of armed men holding some politicians hostage and staff hostage and demanding a ramson for their release or they would kill them one by one. The film ended in the usual army/hostage takers shoot out. The journey was 6 hours so another film cam on, again Nigerian, and I soon realised that it was the same storyline with different actors and a different setting!
By John Vallis5 years ago in Wander
To live in Nigeria:
What does it mean to live in Nigeria?.. No, the question should be “What does it take to survive in Nigeria?” The Nigerian leaders have led their uninvolved in politics nation into an unimaginable catastrophe, the complete opposite from what was promised and outlined in pre-election speeches.
By Joseph June5 years ago in Wander
I committed the crime many tourists before me committed...
I committed the crime many tourists before me committed... Just like my fathers and forefathers. What I have witnessed on my numerous trips to North and West Africa was extreme generosity, hospitality and kindness.
By Sandra Stachowicz5 years ago in Wander
Bubble baths and Lions
It'd been a long day of saving elephants and shit. My neck ached and my backside had been bruised from driving down bumpy safari roads at 50mph with a gun clanging between my knees. I'd recently realized that at some point during the day I had apparently shit myself. I wondered if it had been before or after those poachers had escaped us.
By 5 years ago in Wander
Birth of Konu
Omens The smell of rotting flesh makes me feel intensely homesick. Indeed, it is peculiar to feel that way, but to those from Lusvingo (like myself), the tart scent of carrion evokes memories of climbing up giant baobab trees; toes and nostrils, firmly clenched to peek beyond the walls that contained us. It is a long time back, but I remember those days like yesterday. I am pained to say that I am far removed from them. It is only because of the relentless and constant badgering of ‘at home’ forces that I feel beckoned to give my account. I was the very first arrival. Half burnt logs, and melted candles lay scattered as remnants of the night before. If it weren’t for the long hollow hoot of buff spotted flufftails in the distance, your ears would meet the Wizz and huff of an ailing city. A raging town, consumed by a hazy terror. On this day, there had been a rising fog which most had begun to assume was an omen. On any other day, it wouldn’t have meant anything, but the solemn howls of hyenas at early dawn told a darker motive was afoot. The people of Lusvingo were not inordinately superstitious- centuries of technological advancement had led to slack on spiritual matters- but some omens we were never meant to ignore. It had not rained for months. The sky had been an unblighted river of ever blue -crisp and clear- and yet, mid-afternoon, a fog had risen over the great city of Lusvingo. Its presence fleeting, the mist only lasted for a moment. Less than an hour had passed before the bituminous brume had begun to wither, turning to steam before completely vanishing. Even so, the fog’s brief existence had sparked great commotion nowhere as much as it had within the concave walls of the Great Enclosure. It would be hard to argue that there was a place where the fuss mattered more. To Ndadairashoko Moyo, as it was for all monarchs, omens had grave consequences. The decision to gather his most esteemed spiritual leaders at the Great Enclosure was an easy one.
By Tinashe chikomo5 years ago in Wander
Maps And Meeting The Maasai
The heat was rising and the walk from the jeep to the village was long for any pregnant woman soon to give birth. Sweat ran down her temples as she waddled to a small village with a bucket and ceramic bowl she took from her apartment in Nairobi, and a fine sieve she fit inside the bowl.
By A.N. Miller5 years ago in Wander
Little Black Book
I was laying on the couch, passing another day in my tiny house in South Africa. The sun came in through the window of the front door and lit up the woodgrain walls of the room. The warmth caused me to drift to sleep and I began to see visions in my mind’s eye.
By Scott Lawton5 years ago in Wander
